Singlespeed & Fixed Gear"I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five.
Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer? We are getting soft...As for me, give me a fixed gear!"-- Henri Desgrange (31 January 1865 - 16 August 1940)

February 2009. Brand new. The chain was a bit too much, bar that I loved the colors, the components, the bike.

July 2009. The bike was stolen and recovered 6 weeks later. They had stolen the cheap saddle and used carbon fiber seat post. The inside of the rear dropouts was torn up, my guess was from riding with the nuts loose and the wheel slipped. I just tighten it carefully now and its fine. The wheels that I laced myself, had the spokes and rims powder coated to match, had been spray bombed gold and gray. Other than that the bike was fine. I was sad at the damages, but far more joyful to have it back after riding a borrowed cheap conversion for those 6 weeks.

January 2011. I take good care of the bike, clean the hubs often, tighten bolts, wipe it down once in a while. But I have done nothing to restore it cosmetically. After it was stolen I replaced the seat post and seat with some cheap stuff that works, and stripped all the paint off the rims, which unfortunately included the powder coat (strong stripper).
•I broke the tail light when it dropped off into the road and was run over before I could pick it up, so added a reflector off a random mt. bike post that was in the garage, that I shimmed with cardboard.
•The straps are hand made. One piece of nylon that I split down the middle to run through the pedals and stitched together on the other side. Con: they aren't adjustable without undoing and re-stitching. Pro: they are tight, don't slip, and I wear the same shoes for a long time.
•I just made the front fender last month. Used an old tin coffee can, cut strips out of it, bent em, used jb-weld to glue them together. Got the brace for free from the lbs parts bin. It was for a 26" balloon tire, but nothing a little bending didn't fix. I envisioned it looking a bit nicer, okay a lot nicer, but whatev it works well enough and was free.
•The reflectors on the side were just a pack from the $1 store. Seemed like a worthy investment to keep me a bit safer during the winter when I spend a lot more time riding in the dark since the sun sets early.

Overall the bike looks like crap but still rides great. It's my $1300 beater bike :s Commutes from place A to place B very nicely. Lock it up well, commute back.

Later 2011. Few things I'd like to change this year if I can save up. Shorter and smoother looking stem. Another carbon seat post. New pedals, the ones on it are crap. New nicer spokes, double butted, maybe bladed if I want to spend the money, and for sure not splattered with remains of blue power coat. Polish my rims shinny to match the new spokes. Assuming I have money to replace em if I ruin them, drill out the hubs and polish em too. Maybe repaint the frame, I have a friend who does great air brush, maybe. Performance upgrades before cosmetic though.

your bike looks great, the fender is badass, sorry you had to go through that, glad it eventually found its way home, keep the bluish spokes, battlescars so the other bikes on the rack know yours is tougher than they are

Actually, remove the seatpost and gently tighten your seatpost binder. Don't crank the thing really tight or you will ruin your frame. Loosen it up, reinstall your seatpost and retighten. You should be all set.

Also - don't use a **** ton of grease on your seatpost. A thin layer will do.

I really don't like those integrated seat binder bolts on aluminum frames, which is why I bought a 721tr instead of a 725tr or 727tr. Fortunately, the seatpost is a tight fit in the seatube of my Pista Concept, so I don't have to tighten the bolt very much, but I've heard of other Concept owners having problems with this.

__________________
What, Me Worry? - Alfred E. Neuman

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dcv

I'd like to think i have as much money as brains.

I see the light at the end of the tunnel, but the tunnel keeps getting longer - me

never really was into the 722? 5? type frames.... i think the big narrow tube style isn't as easy to make aesthetically pleasing builds with. some examples, for me, being in this thread....i dunno its just real easy to make an awkward looking build out of them (IMO)

however a few times i see builds with them that i think are extremely well done....

some might not like this build but i think its very cool....right fork choice for the frame, even like the aero seatpost, looks like a fun ride....

anywho and i will say all the frames that leader have been putting out recently are very awesome. The more classically styled new frames like scrods are nice...still have a touch of that leader downtube shape but more subdued.

and the chrome lugged white frameset is baller. i was looking to purchase one but a) found a crazy good deal on another frameset and b) the top tube geom seemed crazy long....